friday musings (rantings): old vs. new

As I sit here adorned in my Grampa's Irish cardi, sipping tea while catching up on my other favorite blogs, my thoughts are consumed with old vs. new. My Grampa's sweater, which is at least 30 years old, has character and charm, just as older homes have character and charm.

Most older homes are smaller. Builders built a sturdy home, often with architectural details. Today, it seems as if builders are building as big a home as possible to fill an empty lot with a house devoid of character. When I heard on the news yesterday that new homes are selling better than older homes, I had to scratch my noggin and say "what the"...

Okay, so clearly the new home above is not huge, by any means, but it has no character either. A little molding around the ceiling would have helped and what about a partial, maybe floating wall between the dining space and living space? As a stylist, I would definitely place a screen or bead wall for separation and charm. Or better yet, swap the dining and living space all together, like...

this home! Plain and simple, this home above is fantastic; the floors, the industrial bar counter, the original ceiling, actual lights instead of recessed cans. Visually stimulating


Brick wall above vs. blah below.



Fab above vs. drab below.


Uh, no comment, this one speaks for itself...


A client of mine had a growing family, so she and her husband purchased a larger, new home. She had always had smaller, older homes, so our biggest challenge was the amount of space and lack of character in the new home. Well after investing more money adding a wainscot and a bead board wall, and buying all new furniture, the family room now has character. So you have to pay more money for a new home, and more money on top of that to give it style?

I did here recently from a realtor friend that some builders are building smaller homes and adding more "details". I'm curious as to what their idea of details will be...bookshelves in bathrooms,

built in cup holders throughout the house...

Oh yeah, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!